1. Field
Golf training and practice devices.
2. Background
An object of the game of golf is to play a specific number of “holes” in the fewest number of “strokes,” each hole ending with a circular “cup” 108 millimeters (mm) in diameter and sunken into the ground at least 100 mm. The hole is found on a specially prepared surface known as a “green.”
A recognized fundamental necessary for achievement in the proper play of the game of golf is the golfer's ability to effectively roll the golf ball toward the golf hole once on the green. To do so, the golfer uses a shafted club known as a putter consisting of a “head” on one end and a “grip” on the other. The head and the grip are connected by a shaft with the grip disposed over a portion of the shaft. The grip typically has a hole in the butt end known as a “bleeder hole” which allows air to escape when the grip is affixed to the shaft. The head is typically flat or slightly rounded on the forward surface which allows for an accurate roll of a ball off the “face” of the head.
In order to reduce the number of strokes, the golfer takes on the green, many techniques have been developed and implemented as well as a multitude of design variations in putter head size and shape. It is, however, widely recognized that one of the most important fundamentals in the technique utilized in putting is the golfer's ability to maintain and repeat a simple pendulum-like movement or “stroke” in which the arms remain in a static position and rotate in cohesion with the shoulders which turn about the spine as a unit independent of the head and body. This position has become widely known as the “triangle” between the shoulders and the arms as the hands hold the putter grip. The golfer's ability to maintain the “triangle” throughout the stroke of the ball toward the hole is paramount in achieving putting success as the large shoulder muscles are much more controllable than are the more impulse sensitive muscles of the forearms and the hands.
Many golfers, in an effort to develop the pendulum putting stroke, experience difficulty maintaining the proper stable relationship between their arms, wrists and hands during the putting stroke. This inability to master the proper stroke leads to an inconsistent putter path which does not impact the golf ball consistently and which manifests itself in higher than desired scores.